Pittsburgh Pirates: Gerrit Cole Leaves Game Early With Injury

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Gerrit Cole exited Friday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals early after experiencing right triceps tightness.

Friday was a tough day for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In addition to starter Gerrit Cole‘s early exit with an apparent injury in the third inning, catcher Francisco Cervelli left in the fourth inning, after injuring his hand during his at-bat against Michael Wacha.

While Cervelli’s injury is concerning – the Pirates lack major-league ready catchers in their minor league system – Cole is crucial to the rotation. Pittsburgh has Monday off before beginning a 16-game stretch that includes a West Coast road trip. That means they have a little flexibility with their rotation at the moment, but will need to make a decision on Cole’s spot soon.

A triceps strain would be less concerning than say, forearm tightness – the precursor to Tommy John surgery – but it’s still typically a disabled list kind of injury. Plenty of other pitchers – Sean Doolittle, Brett Cecil, Edwin Jackson and Luis Severino, for example – have landed on the DL (in Doolittle’s case, he was shut down in Spring Training) with a similar issue.

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Cole is set to be reexamined on Saturday, but there’s a definite possibility that someone will need to fill his spot in the rotation for at least a couple of starts. Who can fill the shoes of the Pirates’ #2 pitcher?

There are three possibilities in Triple-A. One is Jameson Taillon, who made his major league debut on Wednesday. In that debut, he pitched six innings and allowed three runs on six hits and a pair of walks, notching three strikeouts. That was a continuation of his start in Triple-A Indianapolis, where posted a 2.04 ERA over his first ten outings.

If Cole is placed on the DL, Taillon would be eligible to be recalled. If Cole needs any time at all, it’s hard to envision the Pirates simply skipping him in the rotation. The reason Taillon was sent down was to make room for a fresh bullpen arm, after the Pittsburgh relief crew was overworked with a pair of makeup games this past week. Cole’s early exit will not have helped that situation, although having Monday off will give the bullpen a much needed break.

The difficulty with Taillon would be that he would need to pitch on extended rest, given that he made a start Wednesday. Sometimes getting out of the every-fifth-day routine can be detrimental to a young pitcher, so the Pirates may be unwilling to gamble on switching up Taillon’s schedule.

That same issue applies to Tyler Glasnow, a 22-year-old pitcher and top prospect who has posted a 2.04 ERA in 12 starts at Triple-A this season. His 77 strikeouts in 66.1 innings are very appealing, but he’s slated to pitch for the Indy Indians on Saturday. Replacing Glasnow would require the Pirates to reorder their rotation or have Glasnow pitch on very extended rest. It’s hard to envision a scenario in which they permit him to pitch at Triple-A prior to a call-up later next week, so if Glasnow is the one getting the call, he may be scratched from Saturday’s start in Indy.

Perhaps the best potential option is Chad Kuhl. Including Friday’s game, Kuhl has made 12 starts and posted a 2.15 ERA, striking out 54 batters in 67 innings. If Kuhl has a criticism, it’s that his last two starts have both been sub-par: four runs allowed in each, and he failed to reach the sixth inning in either game.

Before that, however, he was lights-out, giving up just 14 total walks, compared to Glasnow’s 31 walks. Kuhl is a groundball pitcher with an outstanding fastball, and he typically has good control. He’s also on the same schedule as Cole, which is an added bonus.

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While the best outcome for the Pittsburgh Pirates would be that Gerrit Cole doesn’t need a disabled list stint, they are fortunate enough to have three major league ready pitching prospects that could be called on to fill the rotation if needed.

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